Trevor Bauer made another big start for the Cleveland Indians on Friday night as he gave the club seven innings of one-run baseball in defeating the New York Yankees, 7-2.

The Indians may have solved the home woes that had plagued them this season. Playing in front of consistently larger crowds than earlier points in the season, the Indians have gone a perfect 9-0 since the All-Star break at Progressive Field and are now 30-24 on the shores of Lake Erie.

Jaime Garcia made his Yankees debut and became the first pitcher since the 1800s to make three straight starts in a season with three different MLB clubs. He was a member of the Atlanta Braves at the start of the season before being dealt to Minnesota in July. He made one start for the Twins before their late collapse led them to flip him to New York after just one game.

Cleveland got to Garcia quickly, striking for two in the second to take an early lead, but the rally started with two outs. After a groundout by Jose Ramirez and a strikeout by Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana worked the count full and drew a walk. Austin Jackson slapped a double into the left field corner and Santana, hustling hard with two outs, scored all the way from first on a close play at the plate as he was able to just get his hand to the dish before the tag on his head first slide. One pitch later, Jackson, who had advanced to third on the throw to the plate, would score on a passed ball by Gary Sanchez, who would have a bad night. The Indians added two more base runners on a walk by Roberto Perez and a single by Giovanny Urshela, but Francisco Lindor grounded to short, leaving it a 2-0 game.

The Tribe tacked on two more in the third. Brandon Guyer sent the first pitch of the inning back into left field for a base hit. Michael Brantley followed with a single to right, but the throw from Aaron Judge attempting to cut down Guyer at third skipped past the third baseman and went out of play, allowing Guyer to score and Brantley to move to second on the error. He moved up to third on a groundout by Ramirez for the first out and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Encarnacion to make it a 4-0 score.

Todd Frazier cut into the deficit with one out in the fifth, just clearing the wall in right for a solo homer. The Yankees would threaten that inning for more, as Ronald Torreyes and Brett Gardner each singled to put runners on the corners. Clint Frazier sent a grounder down the third base line that Urshela made an incredible stop on and a perfect throw to the plate to cut down an unsuspecting Torreyes for the second out. Judge walked to load the bases before Bauer struck out Sanchez to leave them full.

Urshela would make another fantastic play later in the game with a diving stop in front of Lindor before firing to first to complete the out.

Sanchez contributed to the Cleveland scoring again as the Indians responded with two more in the bottom of the fifth. After a liner from Lindor, Guyer walked and stole second. Brantley singled to left-center, scoring Guyer to make it 5-1. Brantley advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a grounder by Ramirez. Manager Joe Girardi exited the dugout, pulling Garcia for Chad Green, but his wild pitch to Encarnacion allowed Brantley to score with ease to make it 6-1.

The Indians added their final tally in the bottom of the eighth, when Ramirez and Encarnacion each doubled to lead off the inning against former White Sox reliever Tommy Kahnle.

After good relief work from Joe Smith and Tyler Olson in the eighth, Bryan Shaw came on in the ninth to get some work, but he had to work to get through the frame. He allowed a leadoff single to Chase Headley before a double play ball from the third baseman Frazier had the inning nearly over. Torreyes hit a perfectly placed single off the handle of his bat between the mound and shortstop. He advanced to second on indifference and scored on a single to center by Gardner to make it 7-2. The former Indians prospect Frazier grounded into a force at second to end the ball game.

The Indians improved to 59-48 with the win and gained a game in the division on Kansas City, who lost to Seattle. The Yankees dropped to 57-51 and have now lost four straight.

BAUER’S BIG EFFORT

Bauer was big again for the Tribe as he improved to 10-8 on the season while defeating the Yankees for just the second time in his career (the other was July 8, 2014). He has made back-to-back strong starts on the mound, firing seven innings of one-run ball Friday after eight innings of the same in his previous start Thursday, July 27. He walked a pair of Yankees and gave up seven hits, but used a devastating curveball to accumulate seven strikeouts on the night while saving the bullpen arms again. He has now chipped his ERA down to 5.00 on the year.

GARCIA’S DEBUT SPOILED

Garcia (1-1, 6.35 ERA) did not do much to help his cause and was not backed up with much support from his new teammates on Friday night. He was unable to complete the fifth in his first start of his career against the Indians, allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings.

STREAKING

Lindor’s hitting streak came to an end at 13 games after an 0-for-3 day at the plate. It concluded his third different hitting streak of ten or more games this season.

Jackson, however, pushed his to ten games, including all eight in which he has an at bat in the second half (since his return from his second stint on the disabled list this season). He is now hitting .326 on the year.

INJURY FRONT

The Indians are expecting a return of second baseman Jason Kipnis to the roster on Sunday as he continues to make progress on his rehab assignment. The news was not nearly as good on left-handed reliever Boone Logan. He has opted not to have surgery on his lat strain, but will be shut down from any throwing activities and will likely miss the remainder of the season.

NEXT UP

The Indians have already claimed at least a series split and will go for the series win on Saturday night in game three of the four-game series with the Yankees. The Indians will send right-hander Danny Salazar (4-5, 4.63) to the mound, looking to make a third straight impressive start since his return from an extended stay on the disabled list. The Yankees will send rookie left-hander Jordan Montgomery (7-6, 4.15), who will make his first career start against the Indians. He is coming off of his worst start of the season, when he lasted just two and two-thirds innings in a loss against Tampa Bay.

First pitch from Progressive Field is scheduled for 7:10 PM ET.

Photo: David Maxwell/Getty Images